Mark Traugutt of the Founders Golf Club.
Mark Traugutt, the executive chef at the Founders Golf Club (3800 Golf Hall Dr.,Sarasota, 371-9720, thefoundersgolfclub.com), was beloved for nearly a decade at the Sarasota Bay Club before taking his current post in September. A former Brooklyn, N.Y. resident and graduate of the French Culinary Institute, Traugutt worked at New York City’s Le Bernardin and even served as a private chef for American composer Marvin Hamlisch before moving to Florida. Traugutt now lives in Bradenton with his wife, Teresa, and four children (Miriam, Charlotte, Brighid and Andrew).
Q: After so many years at the Sarasota Bay Club, how has your experience at the Founders Golf Club been different and/or stimulating?
A: The Founders Club is the same and different. At the Bay Club, I was using pristine ingredients, as I do now. A major difference now is in the style of cooking. I was more handcuffed in my approach to food then. Now I have the freedom to create almost anything I wish. The Founders Club offers the most amazing golf course in the state, and the team and I try to match that experience. The general manager here is very open-minded and wants only the best for our members, which makes kitchen operations exciting. I am very lucky to have been chosen as the chef here.
Q: How does your profession challenge you?
A: I think the most challenging part of my job is to constantly keep ideas fresh and innovative. The truth of the matter is that you’re only as good as your last meal. You could make 500 awesome plates, but mess one up and you’ll never hear the end of it. The most gratifying part of the business is in the aftermath of purchasing, prepping, cooking and then executing. All of your hard work pays off when the customer has a positive dining experience; that’s the reason why we get into the business, to make people forget about their problems for a little while. In return, it makes us feel good about what we do.
Q: How do you gather inspiration for your recipes?
A: Living in Sarasota, we are almost closed off to the rest of the culinary world. This is a tourist town and we rely on season for the bulk of our business. I have a lot of chefs back in New York that I speak to to see what they’re doing. But I usually get inspiration from our local produce and fish. All you really need are good ingredients.
Q: What do you find yourself cooking at home for your family?
A: You can ask any chef, we are the worst eaters. We have no time to eat, believe it or not. We never want a “flaming” dessert because we see that all day long. I love to cook down-to-earth food for my family, the kind of stuff I grew up on. I cannot stand anything in a box. It doesn’t take a chef to cook something fast. Anyone can cook something better than what’s at a fast food establishment or what comes out of the microwave.
Q: What makes you want to always be a better chef?
A: Every day, when I drive into work, I am constantly thinking “What will we do to create a new and enhanced experience for our members?” They are well traveled and know their food, so we are constantly trying to push the culinary experience. I never use anything I wouldn’t eat. I never compromise quality because it doesn’t make sense to serve garbage to someone just to make more of a profit. First, the customer will not return, and then you compromise your soul as a chef. There is no bigger high than making people happy.
RYE-CRUSTED QUEEN SNAPPER WITH FINGERLINGS AND RAINBOW SWISS CHARD
Ingredients:
4 6-ounce Loch Duart salmon filets
4 pieces rye bread
12 ounces fingerling potatoes
2 ounces salmon roe
6 cups rainbow Swiss chard
4 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper
2 cups Cabernet wine
¼ cup veal stock
1 sprig thyme
2 bay leaf
1 tablespoons parsley, chopped
3 tablespoons puréed garlic
1 shallot, chopped
Method:
Remove the bread crusts and, with a rolling pin, roll back and forth on top of the bread until it is 1/8-inch thick. Brush the tops of the salmon filets with olive oil and place the fish on top of the bread. Cut around the bread so that the bread fits perfectly on top of the salmon. Cook the fingerlings in a sauté pan with butter. Add salt and pepper, and place them in a 350-degree oven for 25 minutes until they are golden brown. Set them aside.
Next, heat up a small saucepan, and add the butter, the remainder of the olive oil, the shallot and the garlic. Add the wine and reduce until 1/3 of the wine is left. Add the stock and reduce to half. Throw in the thyme sprig and simmer for five minutes. Add a tablespoon of butter with a whisk and, when incorporated, set aside. In an oiled pan, add the salmon bread, side-down, for two minutes, and then flip it over and put it into a 350-degree oven for seven minutes, until the middle is translucent. Sauté the chard in a pan with the shallots for two minutes until it is wilted.
Plate with the sauce first, then the chard, then the potatoes and the fish (bread side up). Garnish with micro greens and salmon roe.
